Your Green Life: "Teaching Kids Sustainability"

By
KBJR News 1

October 17, 2013Updated Oct 17, 2013 at 8:42 AM CDT

Duluth, MNKids at Congdon Elementary school got to get their hands dirty while learning a few green things. With such a short growing season in Duluth, it takes some special training to extend the season.

"We're looking at some engineering in the garden, we're building some hoop houses and problem solving how to extend the growing season." said Renee Willemsen, the Co-Chair Environmental Concerns.

Hoop houses offer a simple and inexpensive way to get a few more weeks out of your garden. The hope is to teach kids at a young age the value in growing your own food to be healthier and more sustainable.But class wasn't just about the garden they also learned about the forest around them.

Willemsen told me, "Focusing on forest preservation and planting trees to help with purification of water and our air and having students learn about the importance of trees in our environment."

Students will be adopting a tree for the year, learning all the cycles a tree goes through during each season. The Stream Corps, which recently received a grant to plant trees at schools, was also there to teach kids how to plant native foliage.

Teaching the younger generation is the best way to get a head start on a more sustainable future.

Matt Knutson, a Substitute teacher at Congdon said, "We're going to talk about how we can sustain our garden and forest for years to come so these kids and their kids will be able to enjoy it just like we did."

The Stream Corps has already planted over 1–thousand trees with the 25–thousand dollar grant from Canadian National Railway.